“People who are opposed to citizens having information, I question their judgment,” Edwards said.

He said if a legislator is behind a particular law, “shouldn't you be entitled to know what the Department of Justice advised us to do?”

As for where his views and values stem from, Edwards credits his past as having shaped his character.

“Most people have struggles and challenges and I'm no different,” he said of his journey in life.

His father was a drug addict, he said, and was someone he witnessed abuse his mother. He said those were painful experiences that shaped how he grew up.

Living in Atlanta, Ga., he was no stranger to racial discrimination, but credits his grandmother as the person who instilled in him values of liberty, independence and freedom; the same values he lives by today.

Of the challenges and struggles he faced, his grandmother told him to not blame his father, mother or white people. That helped shape his view on personal accountability.

“People act differently when they're being watched and right now the people in Concord aren't being watched,” he said.

Although he had been told earlier in life there was resistance from citizens and police toward blacks, he didn't belive it.

He spent 3 years in the U.S. Navy and 27 in law enforcement before becoming chief of the state liquor commission.

“Now when they tell me our government can't be reformed or restructured, I don't believe that either,” he said. “So I decided to run for state rep.”

If he'd been a representative at the time, he said he would not have voted for the Medicaid expansion.

“There are more effective ways to drive down the cost,” he said.

Instead, he “would have created an atmosphere where businesses, insurance companies wanted to return to New Hampshire.”

Although he may not be a health care expert, “my expertise is bringing people together,” he said and added he'll bring the right people to the table to tackle the issues.

With the state's university, UNH, having the highest in-state tuition in the country, Edwards said it's time to think about alternative paths to obtaining higher education.

Acknowledging that education is a business and that local students need to be able to compete in a global market, Edwards also said the Internet has disrupted the traditional course of education.

“I'm just not a proponent of going the same way,” he said of state funding and the actual value graduates get for their degree compared to the debt incurred to get it.” I want to think differently about this.”

With a vision of empowering residents, Edwards said he believes he'll do what's right for the state and it's constituents.

“When I see our system now and I see what I went through as an individual person, I know we can do better.”